Skorubrew #2 ( Finished )

While #1 is currently fermenting it’s time for me to start thinking about #2. I don’t yet know what #1 tastes like but I want to start work on a second to hedge my bets in case it turns out bad.

This one is going to be all from scratch, no kits, just all grain malt, hops and yeast. I want it to be pale in colour but with a moderate hop aroma and not too much bitterness.

Ingredients

Maris otter Malt 1kg

Citra hops 2 x 5g

Cascade hops 5g

Safale american ale yeast (US-05)

Things I need to buy

bottling attachment

BIAB Grain Bag

Hydrometer

Bottle brush

Morgan’s Lo Suds

Beer supplies container

Funnel

Method

Prepare 6L of campden tablet treated water

Heat 4L of water to 70 degrees

Place malt in a bag and cover for 60 minutes

Take out the malt bag and allow to drip

Pour the remaining 2L @75C of water over the closed bag

Heat mash to 100 degrees and start timer

Sanitise fermenters

Add cascade hops

At flameout add 5g citra hops

After 60 minutes remove from the heat and chill

While chilling create a whirlpool to concentrate the particulate in the centre of the kettle

After chilling transfer to the carboy

Wait for fermentation

Once fermentation has settled down add 5g of citra to dry hop

Brewday 01-03-2016

Got my mash water to 70C and turned the stove top off but left it in place. After adding the malt the temp was still at 70C

After 1 hour the mash temp was still at 68C which is nice

Sparge water was at around 70C which was ok

Boiling temp was at 98C with the lid covering. I tried to pour off the water on the lid a few times to get rid of DMS

Original gravity came out at 1.040 which was slightly lower than expected but not too bad

The whole thing smells like really strong hops but tastes more bitter than hoppy

The colour as well is nice and light even though it’s cloudy

Seems like a big improvement over #1

Bottling 10-03-2016

Things went much smoother in this round of bottling. No mess on the floor and no wastage. I Could have made 1 of the bottles 500ml and might try that next time.

This is the first time I’ve been able to calculate the alcohol percentage which came out at only 3.4%. Lower than I hoped but I guess it’s good for a session beer. The next beer definitely needs more grain to make it stronger. Though I’m surprised that the attenuation is only 64%, that seems like a mistake to me.

The beer has a slightly sour taste similar to #1 but it’s not nearly as strong and overall the taste now isn’t bad which given how much the first improved I’m hoping this will end up as a decent beer. You can really smell the citra hops but it’s not as hoppy of a beer as I had hoped. I put this down to the dry hop bag floating, next time I think I’ll just throw the hops in.

Tasting 6 /10

Has a bit of a yeasty smell but it’s covered up a bit by a mild hop aroma. Low on bitterness with a bit of sweetness and not too malty. All round quite drinkable

Updates

02-03-2016 08:00 Fermentation has started. Temp at 25C

05-03-2016 08:00 Fermentation seems to have stopped.

07-03-2016 17:00 Dry hopped with ~7g of citra. I put the hops in a boiled stocking with a teaspoon to weigh it down.

08-03-2016 17:00 The dry hop bag has blown up like a balloon and floated to the top.